Reinstall of XP Pro SP2

Question

I have a Dell XPS 200 that originally shipped with Windows Media Center and I now want to put XP Pro on it.  I ordered what I thought was a full version of XP Pro, but the company shipped a re-installation CD instead (OEM) for a non-specific Dell PC.  Since this can't be used for a fresh install, I decided to install XP Pro on the XPS from a CD that I currently have on an old Dimension and then remove it from the Dimension.  My questions are: (1) can I use the OEM version of XP Pro for my old Dell?  I've checked the product key with Dell and they say it is a legal copy. (2) Can I move XP Pro from the old Dimension to the XPS or do I have to buy another copy of XP Pro?   Thanks

jmwills · Answer

What is XP Pro going to do for you that MCE 2005 will not?  The only difference is that MCE can not join a Domain (without a Reg Hack) and actually MCE is a 'flavor' of XP Professional.

rickmktg · Answer

@faineant1 wrote:

I have a Dell XPS 200 that originally shipped with Windows Media Center and I now want to put XP Pro on it. I ordered what I thought was a full version of XP Pro, but the company shipped a re-installation CD instead (OEM) for a non-specific Dell PC. Since this can't be used for a fresh install, I decided to install XP Pro on the XPS from a CD that I currently have on an old Dimension and then remove it from the Dimension. My questions are: (1) can I use the OEM version of XP Pro for my old Dell? I've checked the product key with Dell and they say it is a legal copy. (2) Can I move XP Pro from the old Dimension to the XPS or do I have to buy another copy of XP Pro?

Thanks

1) Yes, it can be used for a fresh install.

2) Legally, no you can't unless it's a retail copy of Pro.

faineant1 · Answer

Thanks for the replies. rickmktg, yes it is a retail version of XP Pro, so I should be ok there. I've done some more digging, however, and found that Windows MCE *will* support Visual Studio .NET and you can develop ASP applications on it. You just can't host applications on a PC running MCE. As for the Active Directory part, I really don't need that. So, it looks like I will keep MCE on my new PC and keep XP Pro on my old PC. I'll be returning the OEM disk for a refund.

Thanks again to all

faineant1 · Answer

Hmmm, I suppose the only reason I think I need XP Professional is that I want to run Visual Studio .NET and need IIS and Active Directory.  I had heard from some source that only XP Professional can run these, but perhaps that isn't true.  Does anyone know?   Thanks

Windows General

Reinstall of XP Pro SP2

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